Managing Waste To Protect Our Environment

Question 1

What three major problems make waste a major issue in the UK?

Answer 1

1. Shortage of landfill sites
2. Environmental and health concerns
3. The need to meet government targets

Question 2

Explain why shortage of landfill sites makes waste a major issue in the UK. [2]

Answer 2

1. Suitable landfill sites are much rarer than they used to be, because the old ones are being filled up.
2. People do not want to live beside landfill sites due to smells, blowing waste and vermin such as rats or seagulls.

Question 3

Compare the figures of domestic waste going to landfill in 1994 and 2009.

Answer 3

1994 - 95% of domestic waste went to landfill.

2009 - 68% of domestic waste went to landfill.

Question 4

Explain why environmental and health concerns make waste a major issue in the UK in terms of chemicals. [3]

Answer 4

1. There are many harmful chemicals in waste, such as mercury in batteries.
2. Older, poorly-designed and ill-managed landfill sites release chemicals.
3. These can reach water in the ground, thereby polluting it, which could cause the death of wildlife and human beings.

Question 5

Explain why environmental and health concerns make waste a major issue in the UK in terms of global warming. [3]

Answer 5

1. Organic materials in landfill decay to produce methane and other gases.
2. This leads to odour pollution as well as health implications.
3. This releases greenhouse gases such as methane which contribute to global warming.

Question 6

Explain why the need to meet government targets makes waste a major issue in the UK as well as in Northern Ireland more specifically. [3]

Answer 6

1. Targets are in place to reduce landfill and increase recycling.
2. The UK government aims to have less than one third of its waste going to landfill by 2020.
3. All 3 waste management groups in Northern Ireland must reduce landfill by 80% by 2020. Otherwise the councils will face large EU fines.

Question 7

What is the waste hierarchy?

Answer 7

A list of ways to manage waste, from the most sustainable, reduce, at the top, to the least sustainable, dispose, at the bottom.

Question 8

List the waste hierarchy in order of most sustainable to least sustainable.

Answer 8

1. Reduce
2. Reuse
3. Recycle
4. Dispose

Question 9

What does reduce mean in the waste hierarchy?

Answer 9

Decrease the waste we produce by buying less and therefore wasting less.

Question 10

What does reuse mean in the waste hierarchy?

Answer 10

Reuse items as much as possible to reduce the waste produced (e.g. The ‘bag for life’)

Question 11

What does recycle mean in the waste hierarchy?

Answer 11

The turning of organic material into other products for reuse. This involves turning a used product into something new.